That Feeling We Call Trouble
by Rawiyah
Summary: She suspected it was all about the head… that perhaps everyone in Underland was painfully fearful of, not her, but her head… that perhaps it was the cause of her bitterness, her vengeance.
1. Seldom Following

Summary: She suspected it was all about the head… that perhaps everyone in Underland was painfully fearful of, not her, but her head… that perhaps it was the cause of her bitterness, her vengeance… And the offenses that ate her inside out spoiled her soul, and killed everything around her.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One: Seldom Following<strong>

She had heard the rumors and the whispers from her workers… She was not ignorant, she knew what they were saying about her, yet the many years of her torment had hardened her heart, and made her all but immune to the cruel words they spoke of her. So she spoke with a stern voice, she held her head up highly and she walked as though she were the most important woman in the world. Nothing mattered anymore on her toughened outer layer… yet… inside, she was hurting something awful, that tugged at the strings of her heart and threatened to pull her apart.

"… Where's that damn pig!" She screamed, as she suddenly realized how long she had been sitting at her throne with chilly feet. Within moments, the squeaking, high pitched squeals had sounded far off in the distance down the hallway, approaching quickly accompanied by the pitter-patter of cloven hooves. She couldn't crack a smile, and she only stared at the open door to the left of her, to which her pig was obviously entering.

The pig approached, panting and squealing and with a powerful leap, it dove underneath her lifted feet to allow her heels to rest on its warm, fuzzy belly. It squealed in content and relief as she settled her feet in the warmth…

"I-is… everything to your satisfactory, Your Highness?" One of her monkey servants begun to ask as he approached her with an empty silver platter tucked underneath his arm. She could see that he was visibly shaking, and she raised her nose at him, in a succeeding attempt to appear larger than he. Then, she surveyed her room… her rug, the lamp that was held by the birds… She tried to pick out one, one tiny little thing that was wrong with the picture. Her face contorted in discomfort when she found nothing.

"For now." She replied dryly. The monkey tipped his hat and bowed to her politely, slowly shrinking away still clutching the silver platter like a hidden weapon under his arm. She never broke her eyes away from him as she watched him sneak back into the dark corner where he waited on her… As she sat, she realized just how bored she had begun to grow… thinking of nothing but the cruel things she knew they were saying about her.

The hatred sank in… and she could imagine it so clearly in her mind, the faces of the creatures as they spoke of her, "Bloody big head…." The way their faces would contort in laughter and fear when they saw the size of her head… the way they would jest about her, or recoil in honest terror. Why not play some music to add to the show…?

She hadn't realized how roughly she was biting her lip until she felt a horribly, painful sting and could taste the copper in her mouth. With a sigh, she turned her head away; to be sure that none of her servants noticed the redness of her eye caused by the burning of tears threatening to fall. Why…? She asked herself, why of all the people in Underland, was she born so ugly? Why? She hated everyone… blamed everyone.

Underland would suffer greatly for all the times they'd ridiculed her. All the times they've humiliated, and hurt her… Her name would go down in history books, and they would never forget her during her reign. She would make sure of that.

She was not so lost in her thoughts, however, that she did realize her sudden sweet tooth.

"SERVANT!" She called. Quickly, a monkey came to her, the silver platter tucked under his arm and his eyes wide, giving her his undivided attention.

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"I'm going to take a little walk…" She grinned devilishly, and motioned towards the door. "When I get back, I want a plate of squimberry tarts on that table over there, waiting for me…" She lifted a little finger to point to a lonely table far across the room next to a lonely window where the light shimmered ever so brightly enough to light the area. "I want an even number, and I want them fresh and hot when I get back…" The monkey nodded and she reached out to pat his head in a mockingly loving gesture.

She lifted her feet, a signal to her pig that it can now scram… which, it did, squealing and scurrying away with its hooves clicking down on the hard, cold rock floors of her castle. She fixed her posture and lifted her skirts, slipping from her throne to stand tall on her heels. She looked to the monkey again, repeating her orders with her eyes… Then, with one, swift, sweeping motion, she stepped away, her head lifted high and she left the room.

. . .

As she walked alone through the near-silent halls of the castle, she took this time to think over those hurtful words… those painful stares… everything they had done to her. She couldn't seem to let any of it go… none of it. Hell, she still held on to things that were so far in her past that she couldn't remember whether or not it actually happened. Her bitterness grew as she let the memories flood over her being… washing away the pureness and the kindness in her heart.

She felt her bottom lip shiver and she quickly sped up her pace as she walked… The light that shone through the stained glass windows colored her pale features and only added that much more memory to her as she dove deeper into her thoughts. She felt sick… hated. Her growling stomach suddenly brought her back to some sense of reality, and she turned around, heading back to her throne room to eat her tarts…

. . .

She was happy to see that the tarts were sitting on the table, a top a silver platter. She leaned over, closing her eyes and taking a long, deep whiff of the beautiful scent they released. It was obvious, they were fresh from the royal oven, baked to perfection, just the way she liked them. She smiled… then, lifted a dainty finger to count the number of tarts, making sure there was an even number…

"… nineteen… twenty." She smiled at the healthy size portion and looked to the monkey servant that had placed them. Her smiling growing with the minutes that slowly ticked by. She continued to smile… yet, her actual happiness faded as she noticed her servant began to shake and tremble under the weight of her gaze… as though she were some kind of rabid animal that was staring at it's pray before devouring. It saddened her… yet, she felt an anger rise inside of her. For fearing her, this servant deserved to be punished….! But first… a little snack.

She sat at her table, slowly eyeing the other hungry servants around her as she lifted one of the tarts to her lips. The aroma was hypnotizing, and she took a slow bite, savoring the sweet, tart flavor in her mouth, as well at that warm, buttery crust as it melted in her mouth. The face she made must've showed her happiness, as when her eyes opened, and when she returned from her moment of pure bliss, she noticed her frog servants staring hungrily. Some of them licked the corners of their mouths, with others were eating her food with their eyes.

She smirked, enjoying the slow, unusual torment. "I will be back… I am going to run to the loo…" She purposely did not warn to them not to touch her tarts… She was still aching, shaking from the offenses that haunted her, that she wanted… needed to punish someone else. Make someone else feel miserable for a while. Take off someone's head. Yes… She smirked as she lifted her skirts to stand and walk away from her table… leaving the fresh, warm tarts to sit on the table… surrounded by hungry servants.

"I wonder which one will screw up first…" She smiled as she pressed open the large, metal door that led outside to the corridor.

. . .

Upon her return, just as she expected, three of her tarts were gone. She knew, she had not eaten them… and that it had to have been one of her servants, as her Knave friend never had much of a sweet tooth. Her smile quickly changed into a look of irritation, and she surveyed the room. To be sure, she opened the large doors again, calling for her cards to back her up. Then, as they approached, she yelled, loudly, her voice echoing off the rock walls of the castle,

"SOMEONE HAS STOLEN THREE OF MY TARTS!"

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><p>Author's Notes:<p>

I tend to write stories in a story... this is another one of those that takes place during the time frame in which the movie is set.

And for this one is particular, it is a little challenging, yet the plot bunny looked so tempting, I had to hunt it down and eat it, you know?

I drew up some very, very real emotions for this story, seeing as how I had been bullied for years, and I held on to those offenses for years, which, led up to some very, very unpleasant mental issues when I got older. I've been through therapy, and I'm working my way to a full recovery, yet I still find myself holding on to offenses and carrying them with me. I still get offended easily, yet I don't hold any grudges. In other words, I will hate the offense, and continue to let my mind wallow in it's stink, yet I won't hate the person who offended me.

It's complicated, yet I felt that there weren't enough stories about the Red Queen, and that the way they portrayed her in the movie was good, and accurate, but too subtle for any of us to really understand why she is the way she is.

Am I making sense? Sorry for confusing you, if I am. xD

Anyway, I appreciate feedback. Thanks!

-Rawiyah


	2. In The Golden Afternoon

Summary: She suspected it was all about the head… that perhaps everyone in Underland was painfully fearful of, not her, but her head… that perhaps it was the cause of her bitterness, her vengeance… And the offenses that ate her inside out spoiled her soul, and killed everything around her.

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><p>Chapter Two: In the Golden Afternoon<p>

Like wildfire, the news of Alice's presence in Underland spread across the land… without a doubt, she found herself sitting amongst the whispers and murmurs of the servants, who skimmed across the cold rock floors of the castle, discussing the return of the infamous Alice. The way they spoke of how cute she was… how sweet she was. It made her sick to her stomach. How they could adore a little, untamed girl, and not love her… How they could easily accept a complete stranger, a girl from a new world entirely, yet they could not accept her… and her head.

She seethed, feeling her teeth gritting together painfully under the weight of her anger… and she could feel the veins rising up underneath the layers of skin on her skull. The servants in the room quickly silenced themselves and they slowly shrunk away from her, avoiding her steaming body. For a while, she was so wrapped up in the anger and the memories that she did not notice her servants cowering. It was when she began to feel a dull, tingling in her hands and spine, that she realized her anger was literally eating away at her… She calmed herself, glaring at all of those who dare even to gaze in her direction.

"… Iracbeth." She whispered. The name, itself sounded so ugly. "Iracbeth." It was painful to hear how sluggishly it rolled off her tongue as she whispered… The cloud of gloominess loomed over her with an extra heavy weight, filling the room and clouding the castle in a dark, mystic obscurity that flooded the land, bringing misery and death to everyone under her cloud.

It scared her even more, to know that it is prophecy that Alice is to slay the Jabberwocky… her Jabberwocky! Her warrior… the one who helped her retrieve her rightful place to the throne. No. The Jabberwocky was her beloved pet… She could not imagine the emotional suffering she would have to endure if Alice were to slay the Jabberwocky. No… Alice needed to be found, and she needed to be killed.

She opened her mouth, sucking in a big, breath of air creating a choking gasp as she found herself coming back to reality… leaving behind her memories for a short while. Her servants were now, noticeably trying to avoid her gaze… They were shaking. She licked her bottom lip and gazed at her feet as they rested atop the warm, cozy belly of a well-fed pig. She sighed, glancing out of the window and seeing the sun shining pleasantly through the windows, falling to the floor in splashes of color from those stained glass windows somehow made her body filled with a sudden longing.

She lifted her feet, hearing the pig instinctively roll onto its hooves and scamper away and she slowly pulled up her skirts to stand on her feet, tall and proper. Today was a lovely day for a nice game of cricket.

. . .

Holding the ankles of the flamingo tightly in her grip, she positioned his head at the perfect angle… being sure that he'd hit the hedgehog at the perfect angle, perfect speed… perfect, perfect game. Before taking her swing, she adjusted her sunglasses, and glanced to her friends. They smiled back at her... and she felt comfortable. The smiles of warm, caring and understanding faces cheered her greatly, and she swung with a great force, sending that little hedgehog flying across the field.

Her friends clapped, smiling and rooting for her… making her face bright up even more. As she looked at them, smiling and clapping, she realized that she felt like there needed to be more people like that in the world… more people with disproportionate bodies. What, with more people like that, there will be no reason for anyone to be made fun of.

But the longer she gazed at her friends… the longer she realized that her ball was not returning to her. Which, was odd… usually the ball always comes back. And if it doesn't… she would punish the hedgehog. For running away… why would that hedgehog run away from her? Was it her head…? She seethed.

"Where's my ball..? Paige!" She screamed. The small, white rabbit beside her trembled visibly and he nodded,

"Y-yes, Your Majesty." He spoke softly before hopping off in the direction to which the ball had been flown to. As she watched him hop away, she turned to her friends, giggling and smiling like young school children.

"Your Majesty, that was a splendid shot!" The one with the oversized cleavage said. Iracbeth felt herself blushing from the accolade.

"You certainly are one of the best players in Underland." Her long nosed friend spoke. She nodded in agreement and giggled with them as they continued to dish out compliments. A few short minutes passed, and they were still complimenting her… then, some really, painfully long minutes passed and she grew bored of what they had to say.

"What's going on?" She asked herself and she picked up her flamingo by the ankles again, dragging it across the grass as she walked over to the bush that Paige, the rabbit was standing in front of.

"… what in the world is…" But before she could finish, something shot up from the leaves of the bushes… growing larger and larger as it sprouted seemingly right from the ground. Her jaw slowly dropped… it was a girl. Obviously, this girl was much younger than her… yet she towered over Iracbeth by at least three and a half feet. She could honestly say that she was pleasantly surprised.

She approached the girl curiously, her fearful friends slowly coming up behind her. She took a mental note of the way they stared and gaped at the girl standing in her bushes. But she continued to approach her without even a tingle of terror. She adjusted her sunglasses, looked at the white rabbit, then back at the girl in the bushes…

"And what it is?" She asked bluntly.

"Oh… it's… it's a Who, Your Majesty!" The rabbit stuttered softly. "This is… uhm…" The girl's eyes widened at the opportunity to introduce herself, and she immediately spoke over the fright-stricken rabbit.

"From Umbrage." She said. The Queen paused a minute to let the words sink in, ah, so the girl's name is Uhm. Okay. That made sense… in Umbrage they give their children strange names… like hers! Iracbeth. The name Uhm and Iracbeth were unfitting. She found herself growing fond of Uhm. They were so very much alike. Then, the realization of Uhm's nudity came into play.

"…What are you doing here?" She noticed the moment of hesitation in the girl's eye, but assumed it was nothing more than a slight fear. Of course, they probably spoke ill of her in Umbrage. The "Bloody Big Headed Queen"… of course. This girl was probably expecting to see a head the size of a tree.

"…Uh, I tower over everyone in Umbrage. They laugh at me." Ohh. That was a shot that just barely missed home for her. She could understand the pain of what that must be like… "… So I came to you, hoping you'd understand what it's like." She found herself nodding slowly in understanding; sympathy for the poor girl. Those fiends… how dare they laugh at her for being so big?

"My dear girl…" She began. "Anyone with a head that large is welcome in my port." She smiled her first, honest smile of happiness in years. She was beginning to see a light at the end of her tunnel. Perhaps, this girl would be her lifelong friend..? Someone who she could share her deepest secrets with, and someone who would understand her emotions. Her hurts.

Yes. Uhm was her new favorite… a girl who she could relate to. She could put her trust in her completely, and she was the only girl in the world like her… Yes. She would make Uhm her new best friend.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

It feels like a long time since I've made a story within a story.

This one is more emotions and thoughts rather than words and actions, though.

Sorry to disappoint.

R & R.

- Rawiyah


	3. Bloody Big Head

Summary: She suspected it was all about the head… that perhaps everyone in Underland was painfully fearful of, not her, but her head… that perhaps it was the cause of her bitterness, her vengeance… And the offenses that ate her inside out spoiled her soul, and killed everything around her.

**Chapter Three: Bloody Big Head.**

**. . .**

She ordered her men to create some fitting clothes for Uhm to wear. After all… it was the friendly thing to do. Uhm was probably freezing out there… after all, it was mid-fall. The weather was horrible… One of her cards returned to her with a large curtain for Uhm to cover herself with as they escorted her to her to the chambers that Iracebeth had ordered them to clean up for her.

"Uhm can stay as long as she pleases…" She said. "She is my new favorite." She turned to the overly large girl and threw her a sweet smile. An honest one, at that. No one questioned her… they just cleaned the room and made space for the large girl. "Make yourself at home, Uhm." The Queen smiled at Uhm, and the girl curtsied in return.

With haste, the servants managed to sew up a gorgeous dress using the tablecloths and curtains around the palace… To their surprise, it seemed that their Queen was selfless enough to at least, give up her beautifully, hand-sewn curtains to clothe a friend. Surely, this was a side of her that they had not seen before. The Queen was smiling… she was happier, and everything about her seemed to change when she was around Uhm. It was as though a missing part of her had been found. Uhm was her new friend, and Uhm made her feel complete.

Iracebeth sat back, glancing at one of her books as she sat in a cozy, velvety red chair as she waited for Uhm to step out from behind the blocker to show her newly sewn clothes… She adjusted her reading glasses and waited a moment… after a few short moments of pure silence, she called out,

"Uhm? Do you need any help in there?"

The response was quick, "Oh! N-no thank you." The Queen nodded slowly and went back to skimming the book in her hands, her tongue slowly gliding across her lower lip as she read, looking down the bridge of her nose, through her reading glasses. "Okay!" Uhm called. Iracebeth smiled, and she slipped her glasses off, set them down on the side table and turned her full attention to Uhm who was stepping out from behind the blocker… dressed in a gorgeous shade of red. The dress seemed a little tight fitting… but it looked lovely!

"Oh, Uhm! It's gorgeous on you…" At this point, she was ever so grateful that she did not invite her other nosey friends… they would have probably tried to kiss up to her, as they usually did. While, Iracebeth didn't mind it, she preferred Uhm's humbleness, and she preferred Uhm for not constantly trying to be her friend.

The large girl had a smile that lit up the room, and she looked down at the dress she was wearing and grinned. "You really think so?"

"Of course!" The Queen smiled, showing her teeth as she pushed herself up from the chair she was sitting in to look up at Uhm, beaming proudly. Their moment, however, was brutally interrupted as suddenly the Knave of Hearts came bursting into the room, throwing the doors wide open and panting. He looked frantic and did not seem to notice Uhm, having been so preoccupied with something else.

"Your Majesty…" He began, "We have a lead who might know where Alice is hiding…"

"Oh!" She exclaimed and she tapped her bottom lip gently in thought using the tip of her pointer finger. "Yes… Yes. Who is it?"

"Tarrant Hightopp."

"Ah…" She sighed softly "The 'Mad Hatter'. Yes. He used to hat my sister." Her last line was muttered softly under her breath as she turned away from the Knave, gritting her teeth softly. "… He never liked to hat my head. No… he said it was **too big**." Her face began to color as she remembered how much it hurt… seeing her sister wearing such beautiful hats, made by such a talented hatter… and yet, the hatter refused to hat_ her_ head. Simply because, 'it was too big'. "Stane, I will meet you there… bring Mr. Hightopp to me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." And with that, The Knave of Hearts turned around and closed the heavy, metal doors behind him, and Iracebeth waited a moment, making sure that the Knave was totally gone… She turned to look at Uhm and spoke.

"Uhm, I'd like for you to sit beside me at the throne." She thought she had saw Uhm's face light up for a minute, and Uhm nodded.

"Oh… I'd love to."

"Smashing!" Iracebeth lifted her skirts, taking a few steps to the door and pausing just a few steps from it… she was waiting for one of her servants to come forth and lift the heavy knocker and open the door for both her and Uhm. She did not need to wait for any longer than a minute, as immediately, a small group of servants, all frogs, hopped over to the door and worked as a team to open it. They held the door open for their Queen and for Uhm… and as they passed into the corridor, Iracebeth did not even say 'thank you".

. . .

Uhm and the Queen made a dramatic entrance, and as usual, the big-headed woman stormed up to her throne, where she turned around and sat, a blank expression on her face and a bored façade. She sat down with a pleasant plop, and she looked to one of her servants to hold up a cushion of Uhm to sit. She waited a minute… then two…

"I need a pig here…" As soon as the words left her mouth, a pig was heard, squealing and whining softly… and the little pitter-patter of cloven hooves scurried across the rock floor. A well-fed, pink pig ran and jumped underneath the Queen's lifted feet, and the pig landed on its stomach beneath the heels of her shoes. She smiled and looked to Uhm. "I love a warm pig belly for my aching feet… Would you like one, Uhm?"

"… No thank you." The large girl responded, with a nervous giggle. Immediately, the Queen turned her head, her focus turned to the heavy doors which were opening in front of her, shining brightly a light which shone in through the stained glass windows of the corridor, and Tarrant Hightopp was led, both hands and feet chained, by her Royal Majesty's monkey servants, who instructed him to get onto his knees at the foot of her throne.

Whoever knew, how much magic the Hatter could do with his words, and Uhm watched patiently, as he wooed her, ever so gently… Her head, now, was not too big to hat, but instead, was a magnificent _**globe **_of a head, a monument to display his hats on, instead. Oh, how he coated her with his sweet words and soft music, the tune that she had longed to hear for so long. Her head, the only one in the world big enough to rightfully display the Hatter's hats. Which, she had to admit, were always utterly beautiful.

Looking into the Hatter's eyes, for the first time in years, The Queen turned to her servants, Stane, and Uhm, and she addressed them all, "Leave us."

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><p>Author's Notes: I promise, this will be the shortest chapter.<p>

I didn't want to leave you guys with a super short chapter and call it an "update" so instead, I decided to try to finish two chapters today, since I magically got my inspiration for this story back! Yay!

You know the drill. R & R, thanks! I would definitely appreciate it for this story in particular.


	4. Is It Not Better?

Summary: She suspected it was all about the head… that perhaps everyone in Underland was painfully fearful of, not her, but her head… that perhaps it was the cause of her bitterness, her vengeance… And the offenses that ate her inside out spoiled her soul, and killed everything around her.

**Chapter Four: Is it not better?**

**. . . **

T'was after the events had occurred, which led to the uncovered secret that Uhm had unlawfully tried to seduce Isovic Stayne…. which led to the escape of Alice. From now, the Queen felt more than betrayed… she felt hurt beyond a reasonable measure… that something inside of her had finally nearly broken into shards, bits and pieces. Yet, miraculously, was being strung together by only a single thread… A thread that Stayne had built into her heart, and softened her a bit… the only man who's ever loved her, despite her… head.

She was not always as confident as she looked, no, for this evening, the Queen spent her entire day, in her quarters, glancing back and forth, maybe out of the window, to take a peek that the overcast skies while she sipped warm Darjeeling. A tear or two gliding down her pale cheek. Yet, another betrayal. This time worse… Alice in disguise. Just when Iracbeth had thought she had found the prefect friend, she discovered that there is no such thing as "the perfect friend" for her, and her dreams had been crushed into powder.

She took another sip, this time, letting out a long, soft whimper from her slightly parted, red lips. Her lipstick staining the white of her china tea cup. She was so lost in thought, that she hadn't felt the hours go by so quickly, and she hadn't felt the warmth of the day as it slowly changed to a soft chill of nighttime. The sound of heavy footsteps, squeaking across the stone floor had roused her attention, and caused her to wake from her dissociative slumber.

"Your Majesty…" Stayne began… "How is it that while the day is young, I can never see you when the sun is at its brightest?"

She averted her gaze to a speck on the floor, not feeling up to par to respond with any good answer to fulfill his curiosity. She began to chew on her bottom lip, and she spoke to the floor, not even batting an eyelash in Stayne's direction.

"That's all I ever wanted, Stayne…" She whispered, ever so softly. "To be loved. To be adored…" The silence she was greeted with made her uncomfortable, and she stood from her chair and continued to stare at the ground, remembering the ideas she had filled her head with from a child.

And there she stood. Not but sixteen at the time, in her prime years of age and beauty. Her hair was long, long and flowing and such a beautiful shade of red that not even the brightest of roses could emulate. Yet, she was very short, and stocky, and her head… oh, her head. The young boys her age were afraid to approach her, thinking that she was some kind of animal, what was deformed and meant to be but in a circus or a sideshow.

But not her sister, no… Her sister had a complexion so fair that not even the purest of snow or sugar could compare, and her hair was so long, not thick and curly like Iracbeth's. But beautiful, soft, silky. The way her sister's platinum hair shined in the sun made her look as though she were set aglow. She was beautiful, and everyone loved her. Not Iracbeth. She was feared.

Iracbeth watched from the window of her chambers, as her sister played on the grounds below her, laughing, talking with other children their age. Iracbeth watched in envy as she witnessed her sister share her first kiss with a handsome young man, roughly their age. And it made her blood boil. To see how in love they were and to know she'll never find that kind of happiness… no, because of the raw hand that fate had dealt her. There, she watched from her window every night, her childhood being stolen away from her by her younger sister… everything she had ever hoped to be, she watched her sister accomplish every, single night.

It hurt the most, when Iracbeth developed a crush. From her window, she spied a handsome young man, now about her age of nineteen years. He was tall, with thick, dark hair and eyes that were glazed and stern. Her heart melted at the sight of him, yet her fears of being ridiculed kept her from leaving the castle to speak with him. And so, in her chambers, she watched him approach the castle every now and then.

It was when she did, work up the spirit to leave the castle, after having nearly spent her entire life indoors, to leave her chambers, and approach him. Before nightfall, she ordered her servants to find her, her most attractive and expensive dress, along with her heaviest crown and gems. She wore every bit of jewelry, wore all sorts of fancy make-ups, and even let down her long, thick, curly red hair and she let it droop passed her waist. She looked gorgeous, and for a while, Iracbeth felt… beautiful.

She smiled, thanked her servants and left her chambers into the corridor to finally step foot into a wilderness that she was not familiar with. She waited a moment, peered around the darkness of the trees to see if she could spot him, and in fact, she did! His silhouette showed, he was lying across an overgrown, uprooted tree root, possibly asleep, she assumed. She was unsure of his name, so instead, ran up to him…. But as she approached him, noises that he was making began to tease her eardrums.

She approached a little closer, and the light of the moon shone clearly through the trees… that he was passionately kissing her sister, her body draped over the bark of the tree, and his pressed against hers tightly, lovingly. They did not notice Iracbeth approaching, and were not phased when she came to a completely halt only several feet from them.

Iracbeth felt as though she had been stabbed, a thousand times over and thrown away, left to die… the pain was too much, and she turned around to leave them be.

The memory faded from view, leaving her in the room, standing still, with Stayne gazing back at her patiently. The embarrassment shone brightly on her face, and she immediately turned about to open her patio door, walking out to stand on the balcony, gazing down at the red river that flowed through the mote of her castle. She kept her back facing the knave, still worried that he would notice the tears filling her eyes.

When his footsteps became heard in her ears, she immediately fixed herself, fixed her posture, and fixed the sad look on her face. She changed herself to make herself appear stern, and in control. She heard his footsteps come to a halt behind her, and she did not even bat an eyelash to peer behind her shoulder and face him.

"Your Majesty…" He responded softly, "Is it not better… to be feared than loved?"

. . .

An execution was exactly what she needed to lift her spirits. Seeing someone else in worse pain than she, always made her feel much better about herself. Sitting on her throne, she gazed down at the large crowds of people who were chatting amongst themselves; all waiting for the two executes to come forward. Her friends behind her were chattering too, but she broke through the conversation with a rough, loud voice…

"I just love a morning execution, don't you?" As if on cue, she was welcomed with a soft response from them all…

"Yes, Your Majesty."

She gave a dip with her head towards Stayne, who signaled to the executer to bring out the victims for this morning. The whole earth seemed to fall silent, if not for the soft clanking of metal chains as both, the Hatter and the Dormouse slowly walked into the courtyard, heads down, hands and feet shackled.

It forced a smile onto Iracbeth's face to see the misery they echoed. Knowing that she was not the only one on the earth who was suffering gave her great pleasure. And it made her feel even better about everything, executions were her magic medicine. To heal her own wounds, she needed to cause worse ones on others. Simple psychology.

The Hatter laid his neck gently along the hole in the stone, exposing his neck to the executer. A few words were exchanged, though The Queen could not hear them, and she inwardly kicked herself to stop herself from yelling out, "Cut the chit chat".

But suddenly, when the Hatter disappeared into thin air in front of her eyes, she had wished she yelled out sooner. Her eyes widened, as did her friends as they watched the lonely hat float into the sky… higher and higher it floated, and it seemed like perhaps the Hatter's spirit was floating away into Heaven. Sensible, but it did not please the Queen one bit.

"Madam!"

The Queen gasped, and nearly fell off of her throne as she was taken by surprise by the Hatter who was hiding behind her chair the entire time.

"Madam, you are being heinously bamboozled by this phony friends you surround yourself with."

"Wot…?" She squeaked out, but before she could engage in pointless argument, the Hatter turned about and pulled the counterfeit ear off of one of her friends. The Queen looked at the ear, eyes wide and full of disbelief and shock… "Wot is that?" As though she didn't already know.

A wave of imitation, oversized body parts suddenly went flying about the balcony, everywhere from fake nose, to fake belly, to fake breasts… The shock was too much to handle for the Queen. It came all of a sudden, that the people she had trusted, what, trusted with her deepest secrets and trusted with her stories, her everything… they were lying to her the entire time.

Her face wrinkled in hurt… and she glared at them all, feeling even worse, that the Hatter, who was very, very mad, could see what she could not. How blinded she must have been! For a mad man to see that she was being lied to, while she did not.

"Liars!" She cried, "Cheats!"

In her rage, she ordered for the release of the JubJub bird, which swooped into the courtyard and further massacred the innocent villagers of her kingdom. But the Queen only stared on from the balcony… as her once, most trusted friends had left her now, and were being sent to the dungeons for execution later… and as the villagers screamed, and ran as the JubJub bird caught them in it's sharp beak and proceeded to tears them limb from limb… Blood was being spilt all over the courtyard, a dark, seductive shade of red.

She heard footsteps approaching her from behind and her heart fell. "You're right, Stayne…. It's far better to be feared than loved."

She sniffed, turning around to throw her arms around him and bury her face in her armored chest. He allowed her to cry there, as the screamed died out, and as the smell of blood began to fill the air, causing a painful stench that made the entire castle feel dry, and cold…

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><p>Author's Notes:<p>

This chapter felt too much like I was retelling the story, still, through the eyes of the Red Queen, but still _retelling_. I will work my hardest to make sure that I'm not just retelling the story in the next chapter! I promise it will be better.

Thanks for sticking with me this long.

R & R, please! Thank you!


	5. The Rightful Queen of Underland

Summary: She suspected it was all about the head… that perhaps everyone in Underland was painfully fearful of, not her, but her head… that perhaps it was the cause of her bitterness, her vengeance… And the offenses that ate her inside out spoiled her soul, and killed everything around her.

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><p><strong>Chapter Five: The Rightful Queen of Underland<strong>

News spread again, quickly, once more that Iracbeth's sister, Mirana, had finally found a champion to fight against her Jabberwocky. It was no surprise, that it was Alice, the legendary wielder of the vorpal sword, the sword which is said to kill her beloved Jabberwocky…

She couldn't afford to lose her Jabberwocky, ever since Alice's return, she's lost her friends, her lover, and her window curtains. She couldn't lose the only friend she'd kept for so long. Her jabberwocky.

She let out a soft sigh, and slowly strode down the path towards the dark mountaintop to where the Jabberwocky slept. Accompanied by one of her servants, who was holding a large, heart printed umbrella over her head to shade her from the dim light of the sun that hid behind the grey clouds, she continued to walk ever so slowly to where her precious Jabberwocky slept. She dare not wake him, for sometimes he could be quite upset when he is disturbed of his sleep, but she decided to speak to him, (very softly, mind you!) regardless.

She turned to her frog servant, and whispered softly, "Leave us."

The servant did not hesitate to fulfill her orders, and he made a polite bow and turned to walk down the path back to the Queen's castle and he waited by the path in case she called for him again.

She looked at the mountainous piled of char and ash that was her sleeping pet. She drew in a long breath…

"Baby wocky?" She whispered. She was not surprised that there was no response, and she didn't mind at all. She continued to speak, "Jabber baby wocky… Things have been so hard recently." She paused. "You see," She shifted then, to sit on the ground, letting her feet poke out from her long, layered, velvet dress. "Alice has returned to Underland. Alice! And there's a prophecy that says she's bound to slay you. Alice has already taken away so much from me… My friends, my Stayne, my curtains… She made me think that she was my friend, and she betrayed me!" The outrage was hard to control, and she had to force herself to lower her voice. "… The Frabjous day is coming soon, and I hope that you fight your hardest." She sniffed, realizing that a wave of tears had begun to form in the corners of her eyes… "I can't lose you, 'Wocky, I can't."

. . .

The Frabjous day came much sooner than expected, and Iracbeth found herself getting sick with worry. She knew, that her sister would win this battle, that the crown, which was rightfully hers, would be taken away and that all f Underland would want to take revenge on her for all the wrong things she had done to the people.

As she crawled into her buggy, being pulled by two polar bears, she felt as though she was a lamb being led to the slaughter, and still, she put on her face that she kept in a jar and headed off to meet her sister, as though nothing was wrong. They trudged through the dark, shadowy path which led to the checkerboard battleground. Red against White. That would be the battle, once more.

Across the side of the battlefield, she saw an army of white, Mirana and her gang, and there, riding her Bandersnatch, she saw Alice. The sight of Alice made her blood boil beneath her skin and angered her to no end! How dare she! The girl who tricked Iracbeth to believe that she understood her pain… stole her beloved Bandersnatch and turned him against her. That was stooping incredibly low, even for her.

"Hello, Iracbeth." Mirana said.

Oh, it took all of her willpower not to lash out at her sister and attempt to murder her right then. "Hullo." She spat. She didn't want to talk to her sister any more than she had to. She averted her gaze and stared off into the space away from her sister staring at nothing in particular. Alice stepped forward, dressed in fine armor, wielding the vorpal sword. Icrabeth's heart skipped a beat then two and she almost felt herself getting ready to break down and cry. But she choked back her tears and spoke, "Hello Uhm."

"We don't have to fight." Her sister said, Iracbeth looked at Mirana and recognized that face of her.

"You think that you can just bat those little eyelashes… and I'll fall just like mommy and daddy did." The next few spews of dialogue were a blur to her, and she didn't comprehend anything but the fact that her sister was trying to get what she wanted once more, without having any consequence or any work for it.

"THIS IS MY CROWN!" Iracbeth screamed, her face turning a shade of bright red and her heart beating much faster than it ever has. "I AM THE ELDEST!" She turned around to glance at the mountain of ash and char and she called out to her pet, "JABBERWOCKY!" Then, the battle began.

. . .

"Off with your head!"

The last words she ever hear Alice spoke. And she witness the head of her beloved pet tumble down the stone steps. She nearly lost it, and right away she screamed,

"KILL HER!"

"We serve you no more…" Came the voice of one of the cards. Iracbeth was in shock, it felt like a dream, no, a nightmare. "Bloody big head." Her heart broke right there… It was over. She was over. There was nothing more in the world for her to grab onto. Her pet was dead, she had no friends, and there was nothing worth fighting for anyway.

Her sister sentenced both her and Stayne to banishment and never to return to Underland again.

"At least we'll have each other." Iracbeth smiled at Stayne, but the look in his eye was much different now. He wasn't loving and gentle anymore, no, his eyes were bright and wild. He looked like a rabid animal and swiftly, he pulled back his hand to reveal a knife. Iracbeth was terrified at the sudden change, and she would have attempted to run, if she hadn't been handcuffed to him. The knife swung down and would have cut her, definitely, if the Hatter had not thrown his needles to prevent Stayne from hurting her.

The shock was what destroyed her… not only did Stayne not love her, but he tried to KILL her. HER! The person that he claimed he had loved…

"He tried to kill me…" She whispered softly, to herself at first, then she repeated it much louder to her sister, "HE TRIED TO KILL ME!" Knowing it would do no good, she loathed that her sister, yet again, got exactly what she wanted. She was being banished and chained to a man who betrayed her and emotionally tore her to bits and pieces… Again, her sister won. Simply because Mother Nature was in her favor.

. . .

Being chained to Stayne was the worst punishment she could have ever been given. All he did was moan about how much he hated her, how much he never loved her and never wanted to be with her. How he hated that he lied and how he hated that he'd ever gotten involved with her.

The realization that she was simply not wanted in the world made everything worse. It was her head that caused her the most grief. How big and ugly it was, and how short she was… The shame was never ending, and it would rot her to the core, until the say that she would be able to fight again.

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><p>Author's Note:<p>

This is probably going to be the last chapter. If I can think of a better ending, I will perhaps write it out and add to the story, but I think I will make this the ending until that happens.

I sort of like how I made it end, but I will definitely keep in mind that I may tweak it here and there.

Please R & R. Thanks. :D


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